By Charles Adingupu
The twist and turn that greeted the Adamawa state governorship election, left no one in doubt that the declared winner of the dramatic election, the incumbent governor, Ahamdu Umaru Fintiri, who is seeking second term in office, took a tortuous journey to victory as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, presented a certificate of return (CoR) to him.
Receiving his certificate at a presentation ceremony which held on Wednesday at the INEC headquarters in Abuja, Fintiri stated that his victory prepares him for a bigger burden.
It would be recalled that INEC, on Tuesday, declared Fintiri, as the winner of the state governorship election, with the governor declaring that, Adamawa state, was the real winner of the election.
Fintiri also pledged to be fair to all.
His declaration by the electoral commission put paid to the controversies that had trailed the election since the first balloting on March 18, 2023.
Mele Lamido, the returning officer for the Adamawa governorship election, declared Fintiri as the winner after the collation of the supplementary election results.
The final results showed that Governor Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, scored 430,861 votes to beat his closest rival Aisha Dahiru Ahmed (Binani) of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who got 398,788 votes.
The returning officer also disclosed that the total votes cast were 869,106 while total valid votes were 853,819. Rejected votes were 15,287.
Before Fintiri’s declaration, the commission met, in Abuja, on the suspended election and resolved to write the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba Alkali, to investigate the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr Hudu Yunusa-Ari for possible prosecution.
It also resolved to write the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, with a view to acquainting President Muhammadu Buhari with the “unwholesome” activities of the REC and possibly reviewing his appointment.
These came on a day the Inspector General of Police redeployed the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Barde, who was with the suspended REC when he announced Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed as the winner of the election, after breaching procedures.
